'We Live It': How Climate Change is Stealing Girls' Futures in Balochistan

11 Aug 2025

YCJ Young Advisor, Aitzaz, is from one of the most climate-affected regions in Pakistan, facing devastating floods, droughts and heatwaves. He shares about his first-hand experience of the 2022 floods and the impact the climate crisis has on girls' education. 

In Balochistan, we don’t just hear about climate change, we live it. 

Balochistan - Pakistan’s largest and most sparsely populated province, bordering Iran and Afghanistan. It has always faced injustice and vulnerability. It has suffered through violence, Injustice, neglect, and cruelty. Despite being the largest province of Pakistan , and rich in minerals, natural resources, and beauty, it remains the most underdeveloped and marginalized. Today, alongside these deep-rooted challenges, Balochistan also stands on the frontlines of another crisis: climate change. It is the most climate-affected province in Pakistan, facing devastating floods, deadly droughts, and extreme heatwaves, all while contributing almost nothing to global emissions. The people of Balochistan are paying the price for a crisis they did not create. 

In 2022, I was in Lasbela, my home district in Balochistan, when the floods hit. I still remember how every few minutes, we’d get messages on WhatsApp, “this village is under water,” “that bridge just collapsed,” “another school has been destroyed.” It was terrifying. I was around 14 or 15 at the time, and like many others, my school had shut down because of the disaster. 

Instead of staying home, I joined a local organization called WANG as a volunteer. We travelled to remote villages, carrying food, water, and supplies. I met families who had lost everything, homes, crops, schools. But what stayed with me most were the girls and women. In every village, I saw how they were affected differently, and often more deeply. Girls who used to go to school were now helping fetch water or care for younger siblings. Some had already dropped out, others were talking about being married off early. 

That was when I truly realized: Climate change doesn’t just destroy infrastructure, it destroys futures. And in places like Balochistan, it's the futures of girls and women that are most at risk. 

Climate change doesn’t impact everyone equally. In Balochistan, it is the women and girls who carry the heaviest burden. When floods destroy homes and schools, girls are the first to drop out of education. In times of drought or displacement, young girls are pushed into early marriage or expected to take on domestic responsibilities, limiting their dreams before they even begin. In deeply rural communities, where education for girls is already a challenge, climate disasters make it nearly impossible. Climate change doesn’t just destroy the environment, it destroys the quiet dreams of girls who want to become teachers, doctors, or leaders, but are instead forced to sacrifice their futures for a crisis they did not cause. 

In the wake of the 2022 floods, the crisis in education became painfully clear. Approximately 2,869 schools in Balochistan were damaged or destroyed, affecting over 386,600 students and around 17,660 teachers and staff across 34 districts (TNN, UNDP). 

Even before the floods, enrollment rates were alarmingly low, 59% of girls aged 5‑16 were out of school, compared to 37% of boys. During and after the floods, access dropped even further: 32% fewer girls had safe or nearby learning facilities, compared to 20% fewer boys (PCEPAK). 

Girls in flood-affected communities were far more likely to miss school or drop out, robbed of the chance to learn while the province struggled to rebuild around them. 

And now, it’s happening again. In July 2025 alone, devastating monsoon floods have killed at least 245 people, including over 100 children, and displaced thousands across Pakistan (Arab News, Al Jazeera, The New York Times). As former Climate Minister Sherry Rehman said, “We cannot call this a natural disaster anymore... These are human-induced disasters fueled by poor planning and inaction.” Her words echo what many of us in Balochistan feel: fear, frustration, and helplessness. We’re still recovering from the 2022 floods, how will we survive the next one? 

This isn’t just a climate issue, it’s a justice issue. The fight for girls' education in Balochistan cannot be separated from the fight against climate change. When policies ignore the gendered impacts of climate disasters, they fail the most vulnerable. We need more than temporary aid after a flood, we need climate-resilient schools, safe transportation, trained female teachers, and community awareness that values girls’ education as a right, not a luxury. We need national climate strategies that center the voices of rural girls, because they know what’s at stake. Without urgent investment and inclusive action, an entire generation of Balochistan’s girls will be left behind, not because they lack potential, but because we failed to act. 

Written by Aitzaz Roonjha.